I ventured to Amoeba Music in Hollywood last Saturday to witness their celebration of Record Store Day. Though the event sounds like a promotion for a one-day sale, it was actually a coordinated effort by independent record shops across the country. For those who’ve never been to Amoeba in Hollywood, imagine walking into the largest Tower Records (when most were still open), but instead of filling it with over-priced big label CD’s, stock it with new and used records from every style of music known to exist. I was there for about two hours, and the checkout line never shrunk to smaller than 3/4 the size of the store, even with what appeared to be a full staff of cashiers. Below is a video I grabbed while at the shop. It features a short interview with one of the employees, a guy who claims to have worked in nothing but record stores for the past 20 years, and he has some interesting info as to why an indie band may still want to sell their music in an independent record shop.
